Unified People's Federal Credit Union will never call you or send you regular mail or e-mail asking for your PIN, Password, mother’s maiden name, social security number or any other personal information. Do not respond to these communications.

“Phishing” is the criminal use of email to request that you divulge personal information. Avoid even opening email messages that look suspicious. If you do open a message that you suspect of phishing, do not click on any links within the message.

Keep your PINs and Passwords recorded in a secure place. Do not keep them in your wallet or purse with your check (debit) card or credit card.

When you have to create your own PINs or Passwords, come up with something unique and hard to guess. Try to include numbers or symbols. Don’t use the names of your children or pets, street address or anything else a criminal could easily guess.

Do not simply throw away anything containing personal information, including credit card statements, credit card or loan offers, or statements from the credit union or other financial service firms. Shred these items before throwing away.

Safety at ATMs

Use common sense and check your surroundings before using an ATM, especially after dark. If there are suspicious people loitering around the ATM, come back later or find a different ATM (see the ATM section for instructions on finding ATMs).

Use caution and make sure that other people near the ATM can’t see you entering your PIN on the keypad.

On-Line Safety

Beware of phishing schemes, as described above. Other fraudulent on-line activities include:

“Pharming” is similar to phishing as it starts with an email that sends you to a legitimate-looking website, where you are asked for personal information.

SOLUTION:Don’t open emails from senders you don’t know, or click on the links in a suspicious email. Unified People's Federal Credit Union will never send you an email requesting personal information. When in doubt, call the credit union.

“Spyware” or malicious software that invades your computer in order to collect personal information. Often, computer users aren’t even aware that spyware has been loaded on their computer.

Carefully and regularly check your credit card and credit union account activity. If you don’t receive your statement when it is expected, contact the sender immediately. When possible, monitor your accounts on-line to detect fraudulent activity as soon as possible.

Regularly check your credit reports. You are allowed, by Federal law, to obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit agencies. To obtain your free reports, call 877-322-8228 or go to the website: www.annualcreditreport.com